13 Weeks

Oh, how quickly he's changed:

11 days old

13 weeks old

Same outfit, same blanket

Different kid

Family Night

We've decided to have a standing family night on Mondays at our house, so that we all do better about having it. Nathan, Jenny and Tanner came over last night after Nate's CT scan to hang out for a while.

Here are a couple of moments:

Nolan in his Bumbo seat. I can't believe he's big enough to sit in this already!!

Hanging with Tanner watching the State Of The Union

Sitting on his sweet giraffe chair that Grammy & Grandpa gave him.
Can you see how much he loves it?
He doesn't know it's his time out chair. . .

Home With Daddy Again

Due to Nathan's stupid kidney stone, no one was getting much sleep in the Webster house this weekend. So Ben stayed home with the boy to give Jenny a day off. They played with the camera for a while again. These are Nolan watching some Rachael Ray. He loves her!

Goodbyes

My first reaction when I heard that President Hinkley had passed away last night was "oh no! " but the more I thought about it, the more I was just so peacefully happy for him. He missed his dear wife so much, and now they can be together again. What's sad about that?

He gave so much of his life to the church, serving all of us and providing a wonderful example of a church leader with a wonderful spirit, a great sense of humor, and the strength to show our church to the world in every way he could, without apology. I remember watching him on 60 minutes and Larry King and thinking how awesome it was that he wasn't remotely defensive, just open and willing to discuss his beliefs as the beautiful, hopeful things that they are.

I will miss him, especially during general conference, but I am so thrilled for him that he can move on to a new way of serving, with his wife by his side once again.

12 Weeks

Ben was home with the boy yesterday (because I switched days during the massive snow storm on Monday) and he took some amazing pictures.

We've been trying to get Nolan to do some tummy time and see if he can get to the point where he can roll from his front to his back (that's supposed to be happening soon). He snapped some pictures while they tried it. He had a little help from dad, but he made it over eventually. Here's the process:

Movie night

So, there was a bit of frustration and a little snafu in regards to going to see Raisin In The Sun last night. First off, we discovered that the movie was going to be about 3 hours long, which would have put us home round about 1:30 or 2 am. Since it was a Thursday night and Jeremy & Emily were going to be babysitting for us, I didn't feel at all good about that. I decided that I would stay home and Ben would go to the movie. But then it turned out that when Melissa ordered the tickets she unknowingly checked a box saying she'd pick them up from the box office. Which is NOT at the theater, and closes at 7pm. By the time we realized that, it was too late. SO, long story short, none of us went.

Instead, Ben, Melissa and I went to Provo Town Center to catch up on movies we'd missed, Juno and Sweeney Todd. We took the baby with us to Juno, and he pretty much slept through the whole thing, and then took him home and put him to bed. Jer & Emily came over to babysit while we went to Sweeney.
I really liked Juno. My expectations were a little high going in, so I wasn't bowled over by it, but I definitely liked it and really enjoyed the writing and acting. It's a great little movie.

Sweeney was actually better than I expected, because I went in with really low expectations. I missed the choral numbers, I wished the actors were better singers, in a technical sense, especially Helena, but they didn't screw it up. Also, after everything I'd heard about it being gruesome, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, because it was so very theatrical.

On the way home we had a small issue with Ben's car being towed, so that definitely put a damper on the night (if you ever have an extra $121 you don't know what to do with, park in the Brigham's Landing parking lot after midnight. For some odd reason that's a no-no) but it was still good to catch up on a couple of things we really want to see. Thanks Jer & Em. It was so nice of you to let us have a night out!

Awake/Asleep

Sometimes it amazes me how different he looks with his eyes closed vs. open.

These were taken the same day, about 2 hours apart:

Sundancing 2008

We saw 2 movies at Sundance last night. Let me just start by saying that the Rose Wagner is officially my venue of choice in Salt Lake. It's so nice! I have a place in my heart for the Broadway, don't get me wrong, but this was just a comfortable experience. I really liked it.

It generally happens that some movies at Sundance are better than others. . . and it's hard to tell ahead of time what will fall into either category. Last night was a prime example.


Our first movie was Pheobe in Wonderland, starring 9 year old Elle Fanning. I had no idea Dakota Fanning had a little sister, and I certainly didn't think she'd blow me away with her acting skills, but HOLY COW. This little girl is amazing. The role she's playing of a girl with Tourettes Syndrome that is just starting to exhibit serious symptoms of the disease. She has a moment with her mother, played by Felicity Huffman where she breaks down that was seriously heartbreaking. And she's 9! The adults in the movie are all pretty over the top. Bill Pullman gives the most honest performance, but the movie isn't really about them anyway. If you get a chance, and I'm sure you will, because this will certainly get picked up by a studio, SEE this movie.

The second film of the night was Michael Keaton's directorial debut called Merry Gentleman. After sleeping on it, I've decided the best way to describe this film is uneven. It didn't know what kind of movie it wanted to be. It was occasionally funny, occasionally depressing, and often SLOW and dull. Kelly Macdonald was awesome, as usual, but the script did her no favors. It was a pretty big disappointment of a movie, especially following Phoebe. I can't say I'd recommend this one.

NEW

It's kind of funny to me now to refer to the boy as new. . . 11.5 weeks seems like a very long time to me right now. But looking back on it I'm sure the sentiment on the t-shirt will seem much more apt. The onsie is courtesy of Marianne and Mark (I'm told Mark picked it out) and it's one of our current favorites. The monkey in the first 2 pictures is Nolan's new buddy. He came from Karen & HK Baird, and I'm surprised how much of an instant hit he was. Thanks, guys!

In other news, Nolan presented us with an amazing gift last night. He slept 7 hours straight! And because we managed to go to sleep just about the same time he did, we slept pretty well too! he slept another 4 hours after that, too, so it was a good night all around. Here's hoping for a repeat.

And now, on to the good stuff:

Raisin In The Sun

We added another movie to the Sundance plan last night. We got a call from Peter alerting us to the fact that they had filmed "Raisin In The Sun" when it was on broadway, and they are screening it at Sundance. And Audra McDonald is going to be here for it.

Being rather ridiculous Audra fans, we had to find a way to go. Luckily Emily was willing to volunteer her services (and Jeremy's, though he may not know it yet) to watch the wee boy while we go. SO we're adding a Thursday night show to the Sundance plan.

I can't wait!

Honestly, I can't remember a lot about the plot of this play. I know I read it in high school, and I can even remember enjoying it, but I don't totally recall what happens. I DO know that this production was very well reviewed on broadway, and both Audra and Phylicia Rashad won Tony's for their work in it, so I'm pretty excited to see it.

Sundance 2008

Sundance starts today. I won't be going on anything NEAR the level I've gone in past years, unfortunately. I mean, the trade of is worth it, obviously, but I am a little bit sad. . . I can't believe it was a year ago that Jen and Whitney were here. in some ways, that seems like a lifetime ago. . . which I guess it was, quite literally, in Nolan's case. . .

This year, my wonderful husband volunteered to be on baby duty all by himself on Tuesday night while Nick, Melissa and I go up. This year, just 2 movies, in Salt Lake, at the Rose Wagner. I'm pretty excited about the tickets Nick was able secure for us. . . I hope they are as good as they look.

I'll give you a report on Wednesday.

And for those of you braving the freezing cold insanity that is Park City this week. . . Good Luck!!

New Shades

It must be a January thing. . . last year I lost my sunglasses, this year, they were irreparably broken. I was pretty attached to the dumb things. I'd had them a long time, and was very careful not to get a scratch on them, let alone lose a lens or something equally horrible. I always kept them in their hard shell case, and they lived snuggly in my purse when not on my face.

And then I stopped carrying a purse.

It just isn't practical for me, at this point, to carry another bag. I can throw my wallet, keys, phone and sunglasses in the diaper bag, and though it adds a little bulk to that bag, it's one less thing to carry.

But stuff doesn't stay in it very well sometimes.

Getting it out of the car the other day, the sunglasses case went flying. Ben picked it up from the parking lot, but didn't check to make sure the glasses were still inside. . . who would? Turns out, the glasses had made their escape, placing themselves in the path of Sam the Saab, and their fate was sealed. They are now in about 53 pieces in the bottom of the trash can.

But, being that my eyes are crazy sensitive to the glaring rays of the sun, and being that there's plenty of bright snow out there trying it's darndest to blind me, they had to be replaced.

And that is how I came to be the proud owner of these:




They're Fox, which is made by Oakley, apparently. They're a bit larger in lens than I'm totally comfortable with, but as HUGE is the style, these are modest. And I think they're stylish enough to last me a while.

I went with the theory that worked for me last time. Pay a little bit more, baby the heck out of them, and they'll last forever.

Or until they commit suicide. . .

Sunday night in Syracuse

While not at the wedding activities up in Ogden this weekend, we stayed at my parent's house. Nolan enjoyed a little bit of one on one time with grandma and grandpa Webster and we had Sunday dinner with Natalie and her kids:

Hanging out with grandpa

Ethan read Hop On Pop to grandma, cover to cover
I can't believe he can read!

Aubrey is this close to standing up on her own
She's wearing a dress I got her when she was just tiny.
She looks adorable in it.

Wedding Weekend

Ben's cousin Steven got married this past weekend. Ben was in charge of filling in the photographic gaps. They had a professional come to the temple, but they wanted pictures of the reception as well. The lighting was pretty awful in the church gym, but with a little help from photoshop, I think there are some really great shots. Here are a few:

The bride and groom and their parents

Steven & Molly taking a break before the reception

Chloe, Isabella and Helaina

Nolan hanging with Aunt Jen
Is that not the cutest sweater?
It was a gift from the Knudsens.

Ben with his three sisters
Kim, Tiffany, and Hilary

Nolan and Joey

Joey is Ben's cousin's little boy, and he is adorable. Insanely well spoken for a 2 year old. He has an awesome color of auburn hair that I'm hoping will be the direction Nolan's goes as he gets older. It's so cute.

HELP!!

For those of you that question whether he ever cries, here is some photographic evidence. I believe he's saying, "DAD, save me! Mom is SO MEAN!!"

Baby, Duck and Pacifier

Working Mom

I'm back in my office today. Nolan is with Jenny, for the entire day.

I would be lying if I said it's a really nice break and I'm really enjoying myself. I should have weaned myself a bit.

The morning was OK, especially because I knew he was happy and behaving well. . . this post-lunch thing, though, not my favorite.

Thank heaven Jenny was a willing babysitter. I feel so much better knowing he's with her. She's a wonderful mom and I know he'll be safe and loved.

I'm officially a working mother. . .

and while being at home full time was hard. . .

so is this. . .

Sleep

One of the big issues of having a newborn has really become less of an issue for us lately. It actually started the first night we were in Vernal, and has been pretty consistent ever since, with a couple of exceptions when the bronchiolitis was really bad.

Our child is sleeping for a 5 hour stretch.

Yes, it's only one 5 hour stretch a night. And yes, the rest of the night it's usually only 2-3 hours a time. But one 5 hour stretch is awesome!

The picture is him sleeping next to me while I work. . . the duck is called Shirley, and she's his favorite nap partner. He cuddles her and licks her beak when he's awake, too. . . in the other hand is his pacifier. He usually has it in his mouth, but he's pretty possessive of it even when it's not. Thank heaven he likes that thing!